Thermostatic valve.



, w. E. 'ROY'S.

'THERMOSTATIC VALVE.

APPFICATION FILED APR-17.1916. I v l gfig ggl Patented Apr. 9,1918.

awue nfoz I 359% @Hoz up WILLIS E. BOYS, 0F RICHMOND HILL, NEVJ YORK.

THERMOSTATIC VALVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 17, 15116. Seria1Ho.9 1,5 56

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, \VILL-is E. ltors, a. citizen of the United States of America, residing at (537 Walnut street, Richmond Hill, Long Island, New York, have invented a new and useful 'lhermostatic Valve, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates particularly to heating systems and the general objects of the invention are to provide a simple and eliicient form of a thermostatically controlled valve for regulating the flow of fluid such as steam or hot water.

Special objects of the invention are to ell'ectively insulate the thermostatic mechanism from the supply pipe and radiator so that said mechanism will be influenced by the surrounding air conditions rather than by the temperature of the pipe which supplies the 'fluid or the radiator to which the pipe is attached.

Another special object is to provide simple, accurate and easily regulatable means for setting the thern'iostat to operate at different temperatures.

A further special object is to prevent leakage around the valve operating stem.

In the accomplishment of the foregoing objects, I secure the thermal insulation of the thermostat mechanism from the steam or other supply pipe by the interposition of battles between said pipe and the thermostat, and I obtain a simple and at the same time accurate adjustment of the thermostat by means of a member bearing on the thermostat and having a threaded engagement in a backing or supporting member. Leakage at the valve stem is guarded against by the interposition of a relatively small flexible metallic diaphragm arranged to be engaged by the valve operating member.

Indications are preferably provided for facilitating the adjustment of this bearing member, a convenient and preferred method being to flatten one side of the threaded shank of. said adjustable member and to place gradnations on the flattened side of said shank.

Other features-and details of construction will appear as the specification proceeds, attention being directed to the accompanying drawing forming part hereof and wherein of a member -15 l have illustrated the invention embodied in a practical form.

In this drawing: Figure 1 is a front view of my improved thermostat valve construction, partly broken Patented Apr. a, iota.

away and showing a portion of the supply pipe to which the device is connected.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the plane of the line 22 of Fig. l and showing the manner in which the valve may be connected with the radiator of a hot water or steam heating, system. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device taken substantially on the plane of the line 33 of Fig. vl.

Fig. l is an enlarged perspective view of:

the adjustable regulating member.

The body of the device is madeup of a shell c'omposed for the most part of. a base plate 7 and a backing plate 8,-the two plates being secured together in spaced relation as by means 0! the screw studs 9.

l'lingedly secured to one of these plates, in. this case the base plate 7, by means of a spring hinge 10, is avalve operating lever 11 having apoint 12 bearing on the diaphragm 13 ture 14.

Engaged between the valve operating lever 11 and the backing plate 8 is the. thermosiat 14 made up in the illustration of a pair of corrugated spring disksunited at their edges and forming a chamber filled with a readily expansible fluid. I The adjustment of the thermostat is obtained, accordin to my invention, by n'xeans hearing on the outer side of the thermostat and'having a threaded shank 16 engaged in the snpportin plate 8. It will be evident that-byadjusting this bearing member inward or-outward the thermoot the controlling valve strutstat may be shifted in respect to the'valve Operating lever and so maybe caused to actuate said lever at different temperatures. The accurate ad ustmentxof the bearing member is provided for in the illustration by flattening one side of the threaded stem of said member, as indicated at 17, and providing graduations thereon such as indicated at 18, said graduations having numerals or other convenient markings.

The controlling valve is shown as made up of a valve 19 carried by stem 20 and arranged to engage a valve seat 21. The inner end of the valve stem engages the inner surface of the diaphragm l5 substan tially opposite the bearing point 12 of the valve operating lever, and a relatively light spring 22 is preferably provided exerting its force to open the valve.

The controlling valve is connected with a pipe 23 leading from the boiler or other source of supply and is connected in the present instance with a radiator 24 of a steam or hot water heating system through the medium of a short pipe 25 and an elbow 26.

The piping connections 25 and 26, are preferably made up as a unit with the controlling valve and the thermostat mechanism so that the whole may be handled as a single member and be placed in service by simply connecting the upper end of the controlling valve with the supply pipe and the elbow with the radiator or other device. This arrangement is provided for in the present illustration by securing the base plate 7 to ears 27 on the elbow by means of screws 28 and to similar ears or lugs 29 on the controlling valve body by means of screws 30. i

The thermostatic mechanism is thus in effect supported from the pipe line which supplies the heat to the radiator. 'To prevent the thermostatic mechanism from being influenced disadvantageously from suph pipe line and to insure that the thermostat will be governed by surrounding temperature conditions within the room, I interpose a bafile plate 31 between the base plate 7 and the pipe line which supports the base plate and the mechanism carried thereby. This bafile may, as indicated, he held in place by the screws 28-30 which secure the base plate to the piping, and washers 32 of leather or other poor heat conductors are preferably interposed at opposite sides of the bafile between the bafl'le and the piping and the base plate respectively,

Additional bafi'les 33 are provided between the base plate and the valve operating lever, these baillcs being shown secured in place by screws 34 separated from the base plate by thermal insulating washers 35.

naeaaei These bafiles prevent conduction of heat from the pipe line to the thermostat and serve to produce a circulation of air which practically frees the thermos at from the influence of the pipe line and radiant heat from the radiator.

The diaphragm l3 with which the operating lever engages should be relatively small to present a small area tothe pressurewithin the controlling valve, and at the same time, this diaphragm should possess considerable flexibility to allow for a full opening and closing movement of the valve. To meet these requirements 1 preferably make the dia phragm of a thin disk of silver-copper alloy and corrugated as indicated in Fig. This construction gives the necessary fiexi- .bility in a small size diaphragm.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a pipe and a valve controlling passage of fluid through aid pipe, a base plate supported by said pipe oil to one side of said pipe, a thermostat supported by said base plate, operating connections from said thermostat to the valve aforesaid and thermal insulating battle plates between the supporting pipe and the base plate and between the base plate and the thermostat.

2. In combination with a base plate, a supporting plate spaced therefrom a valve actuating lever hingedly secured to one of said plates, a thermostat engaged between the supporting plate and the valve operating lever, a screw having a threaded shank adjust-ably engaged in the supporting plate and a head bearing upon the thermostat ,and baflie plates interposed between the base plate and the valve operating lever.

3. A thermostatic valve unit comprising in combination a controlling valve, an elbow and piping connecting said valve and elbow, a base plate secured to said valve and elbow, a backing plate secured in spaced relation to said base plate, a valve operating lever between said plates and 'hingedly connected to one of said plates, a thermostat interposed between the backing plate and said valve operating lever and a bearing member adbearing on said thermostat.

WILLIS E. RQYS. 

